Match Preview: Mission to stop Phoenix threes as Sixers hunt three straight

The Adelaide 36ers will be aiming to make it three straight wins when they take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.

The sides have a fairly even overall record with Adelaide narrowly in front on the ledger 15-14 in all meetings.

They played each other seven times last season including three times in the playoffs, with the Sixers winning four of the meetings but only one at John Cain Arena – a 94-81 result in November.

Most recently they met in March in the playoffs when the Sixers were victorious at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre to win through to the NBL’s Championship Series.

On that occasion Bryce Cotton scored 38 points and had six rebounds and seven assists while DJ Vasiljevic also added 27 points and four assists. Ian Clark was the Phoenix’s best performer with 32 points and four rebounds.

Neither Vasiljevic nor Clark are with these sides now.

The Sixers signed centre Mangok Mathiang during the week after the retirement of fellow big man Isaac Humphries. It is hoped the South Sudan international will provide valuable back up to Nick Rakocevic on the boards, particularly defensively.

Mathiang needs just six points to reach 400 in the competition, having not played since NBL24 when he was with the New Zealand Breakers, coincidentally with now 36ers teammate Zylan Cheatham.

Saturday night’s game will be Cheatham’s 50th NBL game for the Adelaide 36ers.

He tends to like playing the Phoenix, with a career average of 10.9 rebounds per game against them, more than he’s recorded against any other opponent.

The Phoenix are averaging a league high 38.5 three-point attempts per game (compared with Adelaide’s 31.6 – ranked fourth) but have a league worst conversion rate of just 29.5 per-cent.

Still, Sixers coach Trevor Gleeson knows his side needs to be wary of the threat the Phoenix shoot from the perimeter.

“(They’re a) very aggressive team, high frequency shooting,” he said just before the side departed for Melbourne.

“We know there's going to be lot of rebounds. We want to make sure that they're working for their shots - we're not giving them free and easy ones.

“You know, they've got so many guys can shoot the ball out there with Sobey and Glover, so, yeah, try to slow them down’s the mission, but we'll try to do that.

Gleeson was pleased to see his side starting to hit its straps with strong road wins over reigning champion Sydney and table toppers Tasmania over the last two weeks.

But he said the Phoenix would present a different challenge, and the Melbourne side's willingness to shoot from range might allow his side its own opportunities on the offensive end.

“We want to attack without a question,” he explained.

“They pick up full court, full court man-to-man.

“We want to attack them. But we’ve got to be smart. We don't want to force up shots. We want clean looks, and hopefully we get some good looks out of there.”

Saturday night’s game gets underway at 7:00pm ACDT / 7:30pm AEDT. If you can’t get to the venue, every NBL game is live on ESPN through Kayo Sports or Disney+, or you can tune in to this game on free-to-air tv on Channel 9.

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX vs ADELAIDE 36ERS

John Cain Arena, Saturday 24 October, 7:00pm ACDT / 7:30pm AEDT

Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports or Disney+ or free to air on Channel  9

OVERALL

Played 29, Adelaide 15, South East Melbourne 14

At John Cain Arena

Played 13, Adelaide 4, South East Melbourne 9

LAST FIVE MATCHES

March 17, 2026 – 36ers 108 def Phoenix 96 at AEC

March 14, 2026 – Phoenix 101 def 36ers 92 at John Cain Arena

March 10, 2026 – 36ers 104 def Phoenix 97 at AEC

Jan 31, 2026 – Phoenix 97 def 36ers 77 at AEC

Jan 18, 2026 – Phoenix 108 def 36ers 89 at RAC Arena, Perth (HoopsFest)

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KEY STATS

• Adelaide has won the second half in 13 of its last 14 away games after trailing at half-time.

• Adelaide has lost the fourth quarter in nine of its last 10 games at John Cain Arena after leading at three-quarter-time.

• The away team has won each of Adelaide's last four games.

• Adelaide is 7-2 in its last nine games decided by a margin of seven points or less.

• South East Melbourne has lost each of its last six games following a win.

• South East Melbourne has won seven of its last eight games against Adelaide at John Cain Arena.

• Zylan Cheatham - 50th game for Adelaide

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